Kerala - Kochi   

Befriending snakes

Every time Xavier Antony Kunjappu of Elthuruthu, near Thrissur, receives a call and goes out with his tools for snake-catching, his wife would make the sign of the Cross. Her prayers have always been answered. Mr. Kunjappu is an expert in catching snakes and has never failed in any attempt.

"I do it out of interest. But my wife and children do not like it.

"I have told them that catching snakes is safe provided you are trained and do it carefully," he says. Mr. Kunjappu, who runs a printing press in Elthuruthu, is summoned whenever a snake is spotted in and around Elthuruthu.

Forest officials seek his help whenever they want snakes to be caught and released into the forest. "I am against killing snakes. I consider snakes as my friends.

"I help people catch snakes only if they want the reptiles to be released in the wild," he says.

Watching him catch snakes makes your skin crawl. He sticks his hand into a burrow with the ease of a magician and pulls out a slimy, slithery one.

Mr. Kunjappu says he has handled a variety of snakes, including the deadly King Cobra.

"On two occasions, I have caught the King Cobra."

He explains a technique of catching snakes:

"Hold a stick before a snake as a distraction. Snakes can only concentrate on one thing at a time. And then quickly grasp the snake from the base of its neck. "Make sure that you grasp it close to its head so that it will not turn and bite you. Hold its tail with the other hand." Sounds simple. There is something he does not tell you: the most important tool you need for this job is courage.

K. Santhosh

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